Father's Day in Ohio

I left for Ohio on June 16th. On my way there I stopped at Marilyn's Bakery in Indiana. They have the BEST pies and my dad had requested that I pick some up.

[YUM!]

I arrived at my parents house, unpacked, and then went to the fridge to get a drink. When I opened the fridge I saw this:

My mom only uses this old orange container for one thing: My Grandma Stringam's Homemade Cookie Dough!

I got out a spoon and went to town! I also sent a picture to my little brother, Luke, to taunt him :-)

I was so excited to see baby Cole again! Last time he was just a newborn (and kinda boring) and he has grown so much!

My parents have this awesome bike trail that is only a mile from their house. It is built over an old railroad track so it is pretty flat and very shaded. We went on numerous bike rides while I was there visiting. It was so much fun and such a great way to get in a little cardio!

One day we went on a ride and there was a crazy triathlon going on. We saw people riding bikes, doing different challenges, running through town, and floating down the river! Looks like fun!

I went on a bike ride by myself one day. I wanted to ride from my parents house to Loveland but I got there in under 30 minutes so I decided to go on. I made it all the way to Milford (15 miles) in just over an hour. It was a great ride!

On my way back I stopped in Loveland and got some Hawaiian shave ice! I know it's cheating BUT (according to my Fitbit) I ended up burning over 1900 calories on my 30 mile ride. So I earned it!

I loved hanging out with my family and it's really cute to see my dad playing with his grandkids.

[Brady and dad playing legos]

[Dane and dad playing "there's a quarter in your ear!"]




One day Ryan, Brady and Dane joined me and my parents at a family fun center! We played mini golf and video games!

[Every time Dane would hit the ball in the hole he would throw up his hands and yell, "I did it!"]

We tried to find fun games for the boys but I think they were a little small for most of them. They struggled on the skee-ball but it was funny to watch them try!

[My dad's face says it all! :-D]

[Everyone helping!]

For Fathers Day we decided to go to downtown Cincinnati and have a picnic with some good ole fried chicken from The Eagle.

 [My parents talking to Luke and Andie. Wish they could have been there with us but Utah is a little far.]

[Picnic at the park]

[My dad and brother, Ryan]

[Papa and his grandkids]

[Ryan, Papa, and the boys]

[Grandma and baby Cole!]

After lunch we went to the carousel. The boys loved it!

[Of course my mom would choose the cheetah!]

[I think baby Cole had fun :-)]

[Dane and Ryan]

[Brady]

For Father's Day we got my dad a knife set with a travel bag. My dad wanted it while my parents were in Europe, so we bought it early and I took it to them when I went to Portugal. 

While I was in Spain with my parents I found out that my dad really likes Don Quixote. We found this cute statue of Don Quixote in Toledo and these windmills on the road home from Madrid. I took these photos and put them in a frame for my dad along with a copy of Picasso's drawing. It was a big hit!

On June 22nd there was a huge storm that hit Chicago. I was on the phone with Josh during most of it. I was super scared because there were multiple tornados spotted near where he and the Raptor were.

While I was watching the news on my phone a touchdown was confirmed just a few miles from Josh! I was so scared! Luckily, he was fine. Phew!

But then we realized that the storm was heading towards Ohio and it was going to hit Cincinnati in a few hours. I wasn't as scared since my parents have a basement, but I never thought I would be so worried about the same storm twice in one night!

On my last night in town my mom, dad and I went to a Reds game. Since the Reds are terrible, we were able to get super great and cheap seats! While we were driving to the game and walking to the stadium it was pouring rain! We went to a local restaurant and had dinner and by the time the game started the rain was gone!

Of course, the Reds lost, but the game was a lot of fun!